I'll Stand By You
by Kaimu
Summary: Just a little ficlet, based on something in 5x03


I couldn't stand the whole "blame Puck like we Always do and don't even apologize when we're wrong" thing with the jacket, so I made it better...

Work Text:

"I believed you."

Puck looked up from under the tree he had just planted again, not even remotely surprised to see Sam standing there.

"You believed what?"

"I believed you when you said you didn't steal Finn's jacket."

Puck shrugged, "They all believe it now. I think I even know who did it."

"You do?"

"Mr. Schue."

Sam's eyes widened, but then he nodded. "That seems strangely believable."

Puck sighed and handed Sam the other rootbeer he had, motioning for him to sit down next to him. Sam barely sat down when Puck dropped the bombshell on him.

"I'm leaving."

Sam almost choked on his beer. "What?"

"I'm going to join the army. The airforce, probably."

"Are you serious?"

Puck nodded, "I've talked to Coach Beiste about it, because she said I should learn to be my own quarterback now. I've thought about it for a while, and…This is what I want to do."

Sam looked intently ino his old friend's eyes. "You know that Finn was in the army for a little while, right?"

"Yeah, of course I know that. But this has nothing to do with Finn. This is what I want. I'll miss Finn, forever; but I have to do something with my life, man. I can't feel useless forever."

Sam nodded, still looking into Puck's eyes. "I get it. I just…" he looked away then. "I'll miss you."

Puck smiled. Noto ne of his smirks but a real, genuine, smile this time. "I'll miss you too, bro."

Sam smiled back at him. "Let's hug it out."

Both rootbeers were set to the side and they hugged. Sam couldn't help but say something more.

"Just don't get yourself shot, dude."

He was rewarded with a snort.

-….-

Puck was searching for his keys in his pocket while he was walking to his motorbike, when he suddenly was surprised by some kind of commotion.

The old Gleeks, or at least those that were there, were all gathered around his bike. He steeled himself, ready for another accusation round, when Rachel spotted him and took a few steps forward. He stopped right in front of her. "Noah," she said with a soft smile. "I think some people need to apologize to you." Then she turned around and pulled Santana forward, taking a few steps back herself, so the Latina was now in front of him.

"I'm sorry I've accused you of stealing Finn's jacket." She said softly.

Puck shrugged, not really knowing how to deal with this. "It's alright. I'm used to it."

"You shouldn't be." Kurt spoke up this time. "We were wrong. I'm sorry."

Artie spoke up next, "Sorry, dude."

Mercedes, Mike and Tina all nodded as well; even though they hadn't really said anything, they hadn't backed Puck up either.

Puck felt a little lost and mostly uncomfortable with all this…nice-ness towards him. He wasn't used to this at all.

"Is this why you're all standing here?" he finally asked.

They all shared a look.

"Sam told us you were leaving." Mercedes said and Puck glanced over at Sam, who met his gaze. "You're going to join the army. Seriously?"

"Very serious." Puck answered, then glanced over at Rachel. "I need to do something good with my life now Finn can't point me in the right direction anymore. I need to do this for myself. I need to move on. Don't get me wrong, I'll never forget Finn, but…yeah…I just want to make something of my life. Of myself."

He suddenly had a teary-eyed Rachel in his arms, whispering in his ear; "I'm so proud of you. I know Finn would be proud too." And Puck just knew he'd done and said the right thing.

After Rachel came the more awkward hugs with Kurt, Mercedes and Tina, the friendly bro hugs with Artie and Mike, the more familiar hug with Santana; and then there was Sam.

Out of all of them, Sam was probably the one he was gonna miss the most.

"I don't know if I should be mad at you now or not." He joked lightly. "Dude, telling everyone behind my back that I'm leaving for the army. Not cool."

Sam shrugged, "You would have just left without even saying goodbye. I couldn't let that happen. Not after you've got wrongly accused."

Puck let out a fond chuckle. "You're something else, Sam Evans."

Sam held his arms open and pouted slightly. "Can I get my hug now?"

Puck stepped into Sam's arms and gave him the hug he deserved. They pulled away when Rachel cleared her throat.

"There's something I would like you to have." Rachel said, reaching behind her to take Finn's jacket off Puck's motorbike. "You deserve it."

Puck was awe-struck, reaching out to touch the material of the jacket, then gently pushed it back towards her again.

"I can't take this, Rach." He said, his eyes finally leaving the jacket to look up into hers. "You can give it to Coach Beiste. I told her to frame it and hang it inside the locker room. All those new football players should know who Finn Hudson was. The best quarterback McKinley ever had."

Rachel gave a watery smile, blinking away some more tears that were threatening to fall.

"Thank you, Noah."

Noah gave a nod, then made a move to get on his bike so they all gave him some room. Once he sat on his bike, he looked at all of them one more time. It could be the last…

Those were the people he had actually called his friends through his last three years of high school. It was kind of sad that Quinn and Brittany weren't there, because they had been his friends as well.

There was never gonna be a better Glee club than them. Never a better set of friends either.

He gave a nod to all of them before pulling his helmet on.

"Well," he said, before he closed the clip. "I'll see you guys around."

The engine roared when it came alive and took him away from his hometown.

Looking into his little rearview mirror, he saw his friends, waving him goodbye.


End file.
